Kyle Larson \u2013 No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet<\/p>\n
Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Last Race: 9th (Martinsville)
Championship Standings: T-8th<\/p>\n
2026 Season StatsStarts: 7Wins: 0Top 5: 1Top 10: 4Laps Led: 137Stage Wins: 0Average Finish: 15.0Cup Series CareerStarts: 409Wins: 32Poles: 22Top 5: 135Top 10: 208Laps Led: 10,499Stage Wins: 72Average Finish: 14.0Bristol Motor SpeedwayStarts: 19Wins: 3Poles: 1Top 5: 8Top 10: 13Laps Led: 1,762Stage Wins: 7Average Finish: 11.6NotesLarson finished ninth at Martinsville, earning his fourth top-10 of the season prior to the off weekend.The defending winner at Bristol, Larson has won two of the last three races at the 0.533-mile short track.In the fall 2024 and spring 2025 races, Larson led 873 of 1,000 laps and swept all stages.He leads all drivers with seven Bristol stage wins.Larson has led 946 laps at Bristol in the Next Gen car, more than double the next-closest competitor.His 7.67 average finish at Bristol in the Next Gen era ranks second best.Larson will also compete in Saturday\u2019s NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series race, driving the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.<\/p>\n
Larson on Bristol:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it suits my driving style. It\u2019s fast-paced and you don\u2019t have to slow down much. You catch traffic quickly, and I feel like I\u2019ve gotten good at maneuvering through it there. I love Bristol and get excited to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chase Elliott \u2013 No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet<\/p>\n
Age: 30 (Nov. 28, 1995)
Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
Last Race: 1st (Martinsville)
Championship Standings: 4th<\/p>\n
2026 Season StatsStarts: 7Wins: 1Top 5: 3Top 10: 4Laps Led: 103Stage Wins: 0Average Finish: 9.0Bristol Motor SpeedwayStarts: 17Top 5: 5Top 10: 9Laps Led: 444Average Finish: 12.8NotesElliott enters Bristol as the most recent Cup winner, capturing victory at Martinsville.He surpassed 6,000 career laps led with 84 laps out front at Martinsville.Elliott is one of only four drivers to finish on the lead lap in every race this season.He has four finishes of eighth or better in the last six Bristol races, including two runner-up finishes.Elliott\u2019s 444 laps led at Bristol are his most at any track without a points win.He won the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol, when the event was held at the venue.<\/p>\n
Elliott on Bristol:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a good track with a lot of close calls\u2014seconds and thirds. Hopefully this trip is a little different. I think we\u2019ve learned a lot this season that we can apply there.\u201d<\/p>\n
William Byron \u2013 No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet<\/p>\n
Age: 28 (Nov. 29, 1997)
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
Last Race: 5th (Martinsville)
Championship Standings: 5th<\/p>\n
2026 Season StatsTop 10s: 4Stage Wins: 1Average Finish: 10.9 (5th-best)NotesByron qualified second at Martinsville, finishing fifth.He has four consecutive top-10 finishes, the second-longest active streak.Byron has run the most laps in the top 10 (1,431) through seven races.In the Next Gen era on short tracks, Byron has four wins, tied for second-most.He owns two career Bristol top-fives and five top-10s, with a best finish of third (2021\u20132022 fall races).<\/p>\n
Byron on Bristol:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really fast paced and very unique. Small mistakes can really hurt the tires. Finding a good rhythm is critical, and the weather will play a big role in tire wear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alex Bowman \u2013 No. 48 Ally Chevrolet<\/p>\n
Age: 32 (April 25, 1993)
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Crew Chief: Blake Harris
Last Race: 36th (COTA)
Championship Standings: 36th<\/p>\n
NotesBowman returns to competition after missing four races recovering from vertigo.Sunday will mark his 365th career Cup Series start.At Bristol, Bowman has:Two poles (2024, 2025)Three top-fivesSix top-10s81 laps ledBowman has two Cup Series short-track wins, both earned with Hendrick Motorsports.<\/p>\n
Bowman on Returning:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to be back with my No. 48 team. We\u2019re focused on building consistency, and Bristol has been a good track for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corey Day \u2013 No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet<\/p>\n
(NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series)<\/p>\n
Age: 20 (Nov. 28, 2005)
Hometown: Clovis, California
Crew Chief: Adam Wall
Last Race: 10th (Rockingham)
Standings: 5th<\/p>\n
NotesDay extended his top-10 streak to seven races, longest active in the series.At Rockingham, he earned his first career pole, led 118 laps, and swept both stages.He will make his second Bristol start, after finishing 17th in his debut last fall.Hendrick Motorsports won last spring\u2019s Bristol NOAPS race with Kyle Larson driving the No. 17.<\/p>\n
Day on Bristol:<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Bristol. For a dirt guy, the pace and how the track changes really fit my style. I\u2019m definitely looking forward to getting back there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hendrick Motorsports at BristolAll-time leader at Bristol in:Top 5s (72)Top 10s (127)Laps led (7,382)The organization has won two of the last three Bristol races and four of the last six stages at the track.Hendrick Motorsports engines have 561 wins across NASCAR\u2019s national series, including six of eight NOAPS events in 2026.HMS is NASCAR\u2019s all-time leader in:Wins (321)Poles (259)Top 5s (1,328)Top 10s (2,272)Laps Led (85,641)Championships (15)<\/p>\n
Hendrick Motorsports PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyle Larson \u2013 No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Age: 33 (July 31, 1992)Hometown: Elk Grove, CaliforniaCrew Chief: Cliff DanielsLast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[29779,49,48,717,10660,77099,4384,720,12716,634,721,722,82],"class_list":["post-594920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-bristol-motor-speedway","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-charlotte","tag-chase","tag-dirt","tag-hendrick-motorsports","tag-motor","tag-motorsports","tag-nascar","tag-series","tag-speedway","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}